Building Liability Orders before trial: TCC raises the stakes in Crest v Ardmore
In Crest Nicholson Regeneration Limited v Ardmore Construction Limited [2026] EWHC 789, the TCC handed down one of the most important Building Safety Act decisions to date, granting two Building Liability Orders (BLOs) against companies associated with an insolvent contractor.
What happened?
Crest Nicholson Regeneration Limited (Crest) engaged Ardmore Construction Limited (ACL) to design and build a residential development in Portsmouth. Post‑Grenfell investigations identified serious fire safety defects in the external wall system. Crest referred the dispute to adjudication. The adjudicator held that the defects amounted to breaches of the Building Regulations and the Defective Premises Act 1972 and awarded Crest £14.9m. ACL entered administration the day before the decision was made and ultimately did not pay.
The application
Crest applied for:
- an anticipatory BLO, making ACL’s associated companies jointly and severally liable for any liability later established against ACL; and
- an adjudication BLO, making those associates liable for the unpaid adjudicator’s award.
The decision
The Court granted both BLOs, holding that:
- BLOs can be made before trial, even where liability is disputed;
- An adjudicator’s decision can be a “relevant liability” under the Building Safety Act;
- ACL’s insolvency, group restructuring to ring‑fence liabilities, and the associates’ long‑standing knowledge of the claims all pointed strongly towards it being just and equitable to make the orders; and
- The Court had a “high degree of confidence” that ACL would ultimately be found liable for the defects.
Why this matters?
- Associated companies can face early exposure, even before liability is finally determined.
- Corporate restructuring and insolvency will not prevent liability being passed up to the group.
